Susan looked through the cash register as she closed up shop. It’s part of her procedure, but this time it was unnecessary. She didn’t need to count the cash in the register to know how much money she’d made today. $18.74. She remembers it clearly since only one customer walked through her door. The fourth one this whole week.
She leans back in the chair she keeps behind the counter until she’s facing the ceiling and sighs loudly. “I can’t keep the shop open like this.” She says it to nobody in particular, but hearing it aloud finally makes her comes to terms with the reality of it. Her fancy carpentry degree from San Francisco and intricate wood carvings aren’t enough to keep customers coming in, and soon she won’t have enough money to pay the bills. She takes a deep breath, reveling in the sandy aroma of freshly carved wood. I don’t wanna close this place.
She hears a light bang at the doorway and quickly straightens her head to see a group of teenagers in front of the store, one trying to open the door. Technically, the store was closed, but she wasn’t going to drive away potential customers while she was here. Susan gets up off the chair so quickly she almost trips and runs to the front, opening the door for the teens.
“Hi, welcome to Morison Woodworks!” As the teens walk past her into the shop, she can immediately tell they aren’t going to buy anything. They all have runic tattoos to some degree, with one teen even covering his whole arm with them. The group spread themselves out around the store, taking quick glances at her artwork lined up along the shelves. After a few minutes of this, Susan taps her foot, and clears her throat. “If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
The teen with a sleeve of tattoos shuffles up to her, making the sag in his jeans as noticeable as possible. “Yeah, this art and stuff looks great.” He gives Susan a side glance. “You uh, got any more...examples, in the back?”
Figured. “I’m sorry sir, but I don’t do runic carvings.”
The teen glares at her and waves to the rest of his group. “Come on yo, let’s go back to The Parlour. This bitch dry.” They all quickly stop their feigned interest in her art and funnel out of the store. Susan locks the door behind them and walks to her chair, pulling the cash register back out. She thought a storefront by the water would help attract customers, but most of the people who come are looking for something enchanted. She looks down at the near-empty cash register. “Maybe I need to change…”
That night, Susan left her home chasing the earlier mention of the Parlour. She was going to learn the rune-making talent and save her business, whether they wanted to teach her or not. It took her almost an hour of wandering around midtown, but a neon glow escaping an alley caught her attention as she passed by it. Peering down the long, narrow alley, she saw a vibrant sign with “The Parlour” written on it hanging above a set of red double doors. She gulps, straightens her back, and starts marching down the alley up to the doors. A lone, tall man dressed in a black suit stands watch outside the doors, and he holds his arm out to stop her as she tries to walk in. “You’re new here, so I’ll just warn you. Don’t cause any trouble, and you’re free to come and go.” With that, he moves his arm and pulls open the door, gesturing for Susan to enter. She looks at him startledly, but soon recovers and walks through the open door.
The second she stepped into the building, she almost regretted choosing to come here. Even at the entrance, the booming music and overwhelming scent of sweat and booze almost made her faint on the spot.
How did I not hear this from the alley? She turns behind her as the man in front closes the door, spotting a small carving on the back of the door. A rune, huh? Should've figured. She faces front again, toward the music and the stench, and starts walking deeper in. As she enters the main lounge, the first thing she sees is the shining silver pole standing in the center of a circular stage with a half-circle of mirrors behind it, and that was all she needed to know she was in the wrong part of town. The walls were covered in posters that had runes drawn on them in blood, doing God knows what. She felt stares, and turned her attention to the bar. There were so many people loitering around it, she could only see a small bit of it. It seemed to be perfectly centered in the lounge, with a long rack of various whiskeys and scotches and things Susan had never even heard of hanging above. Standing behind the bar was a tall, rough-looking man. He was glaring at Susan, making her feel even more out of place. But her mind was made up.
She started walking up to the bar, pushing past eccentrically-dressed and tattoo-covered patrons, and when she reached the edge the man behind it came over to her. “You’re not a regular here, and this doesn’t look like your kind of place. What do you want here?”
“I need to learn rune-making. Figured this would be the fastest way to do it.”
Laughter bellows out from the man, attracting a few glances from surrounding patrons. “You need to learn how to make runes and you do it by coming to a strip joint?”
Blushing, Susan responds, “It needs to be fast, and I’m willing to do what I have to.”
“You sure you want to say those words to me here?”
Susan looks over at the silver pole and gulps. “I’m willing to do...some things, to learn.”
The man smiles and points at a closed-curtain booth in the corner of the room, handing Susan a wooden rod with a rune and number carved into the side. “Touch this rod to the curtain and step inside. You’ll find what you’re looking for. Make sure you close the curtain behind you.”
She takes the rod and thanks the man, walking to the booth. The curtain is closed, but it doesn’t seem like a curtain. It’s not moving, even with the slight breeze in the room. She tries to pull the curtain, but it doesn’t budge. Pushing it makes no apparent change either. Is this really a curtain? Susan looks at the rod, and points it out toward the curtain. A blue spark jumps out from the rod, and the curtain begins to flutter. She gently tries to pull it aside, and feels the silk move with her. She glances down at the rod in disbelief, then opens the curtain fully and steps inside.
Susan closes the curtain behind her, noticing a rune sewn into the silk. She turns, and holds her hands up to cover her eyes as three bright lights standing on tripods beam down on the booth. “Why is it so bright?”
“Aaaaaaa!” Susan brings her eyes down to the source of the noise, and lets out a scream herself. Sitting on the floor in front of her was a short, green-skinned goblin. It’s holding a screwdriver, and sitting on a torn fishing net along with a partially dismantled computer. Susan takes a step back, and presses against the once again sturdy curtains. “Aym workin’ here, ya know!” He turns back to the computer. “Aye came all da way thru da tunnels ta be intarupted an’ saprised like dat?”
She crosses herself and tries to back up further, forgetting about the curtains. “I’m sorry...I just wanted to learn runes…”
This peaks his interest, and he twists around again. “Oye, you wanna learn how ta make runes? Shoulda sed dat first! Aye can ‘elp with dat!”
She takes a few deep breaths, calming herself and relaxing her tense body slightly. “You...can?”
The goblin laughs. “Of course aye can, we were da first ta find ‘em!”
She leans back in the chair she keeps behind the counter until she’s facing the ceiling and sighs loudly. “I can’t keep the shop open like this.” She says it to nobody in particular, but hearing it aloud finally makes her comes to terms with the reality of it. Her fancy carpentry degree from San Francisco and intricate wood carvings aren’t enough to keep customers coming in, and soon she won’t have enough money to pay the bills. She takes a deep breath, reveling in the sandy aroma of freshly carved wood. I don’t wanna close this place.
She hears a light bang at the doorway and quickly straightens her head to see a group of teenagers in front of the store, one trying to open the door. Technically, the store was closed, but she wasn’t going to drive away potential customers while she was here. Susan gets up off the chair so quickly she almost trips and runs to the front, opening the door for the teens.
“Hi, welcome to Morison Woodworks!” As the teens walk past her into the shop, she can immediately tell they aren’t going to buy anything. They all have runic tattoos to some degree, with one teen even covering his whole arm with them. The group spread themselves out around the store, taking quick glances at her artwork lined up along the shelves. After a few minutes of this, Susan taps her foot, and clears her throat. “If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
The teen with a sleeve of tattoos shuffles up to her, making the sag in his jeans as noticeable as possible. “Yeah, this art and stuff looks great.” He gives Susan a side glance. “You uh, got any more...examples, in the back?”
Figured. “I’m sorry sir, but I don’t do runic carvings.”
The teen glares at her and waves to the rest of his group. “Come on yo, let’s go back to The Parlour. This bitch dry.” They all quickly stop their feigned interest in her art and funnel out of the store. Susan locks the door behind them and walks to her chair, pulling the cash register back out. She thought a storefront by the water would help attract customers, but most of the people who come are looking for something enchanted. She looks down at the near-empty cash register. “Maybe I need to change…”
That night, Susan left her home chasing the earlier mention of the Parlour. She was going to learn the rune-making talent and save her business, whether they wanted to teach her or not. It took her almost an hour of wandering around midtown, but a neon glow escaping an alley caught her attention as she passed by it. Peering down the long, narrow alley, she saw a vibrant sign with “The Parlour” written on it hanging above a set of red double doors. She gulps, straightens her back, and starts marching down the alley up to the doors. A lone, tall man dressed in a black suit stands watch outside the doors, and he holds his arm out to stop her as she tries to walk in. “You’re new here, so I’ll just warn you. Don’t cause any trouble, and you’re free to come and go.” With that, he moves his arm and pulls open the door, gesturing for Susan to enter. She looks at him startledly, but soon recovers and walks through the open door.
The second she stepped into the building, she almost regretted choosing to come here. Even at the entrance, the booming music and overwhelming scent of sweat and booze almost made her faint on the spot.
How did I not hear this from the alley? She turns behind her as the man in front closes the door, spotting a small carving on the back of the door. A rune, huh? Should've figured. She faces front again, toward the music and the stench, and starts walking deeper in. As she enters the main lounge, the first thing she sees is the shining silver pole standing in the center of a circular stage with a half-circle of mirrors behind it, and that was all she needed to know she was in the wrong part of town. The walls were covered in posters that had runes drawn on them in blood, doing God knows what. She felt stares, and turned her attention to the bar. There were so many people loitering around it, she could only see a small bit of it. It seemed to be perfectly centered in the lounge, with a long rack of various whiskeys and scotches and things Susan had never even heard of hanging above. Standing behind the bar was a tall, rough-looking man. He was glaring at Susan, making her feel even more out of place. But her mind was made up.
She started walking up to the bar, pushing past eccentrically-dressed and tattoo-covered patrons, and when she reached the edge the man behind it came over to her. “You’re not a regular here, and this doesn’t look like your kind of place. What do you want here?”
“I need to learn rune-making. Figured this would be the fastest way to do it.”
Laughter bellows out from the man, attracting a few glances from surrounding patrons. “You need to learn how to make runes and you do it by coming to a strip joint?”
Blushing, Susan responds, “It needs to be fast, and I’m willing to do what I have to.”
“You sure you want to say those words to me here?”
Susan looks over at the silver pole and gulps. “I’m willing to do...some things, to learn.”
The man smiles and points at a closed-curtain booth in the corner of the room, handing Susan a wooden rod with a rune and number carved into the side. “Touch this rod to the curtain and step inside. You’ll find what you’re looking for. Make sure you close the curtain behind you.”
She takes the rod and thanks the man, walking to the booth. The curtain is closed, but it doesn’t seem like a curtain. It’s not moving, even with the slight breeze in the room. She tries to pull the curtain, but it doesn’t budge. Pushing it makes no apparent change either. Is this really a curtain? Susan looks at the rod, and points it out toward the curtain. A blue spark jumps out from the rod, and the curtain begins to flutter. She gently tries to pull it aside, and feels the silk move with her. She glances down at the rod in disbelief, then opens the curtain fully and steps inside.
Susan closes the curtain behind her, noticing a rune sewn into the silk. She turns, and holds her hands up to cover her eyes as three bright lights standing on tripods beam down on the booth. “Why is it so bright?”
“Aaaaaaa!” Susan brings her eyes down to the source of the noise, and lets out a scream herself. Sitting on the floor in front of her was a short, green-skinned goblin. It’s holding a screwdriver, and sitting on a torn fishing net along with a partially dismantled computer. Susan takes a step back, and presses against the once again sturdy curtains. “Aym workin’ here, ya know!” He turns back to the computer. “Aye came all da way thru da tunnels ta be intarupted an’ saprised like dat?”
She crosses herself and tries to back up further, forgetting about the curtains. “I’m sorry...I just wanted to learn runes…”
This peaks his interest, and he twists around again. “Oye, you wanna learn how ta make runes? Shoulda sed dat first! Aye can ‘elp with dat!”
She takes a few deep breaths, calming herself and relaxing her tense body slightly. “You...can?”
The goblin laughs. “Of course aye can, we were da first ta find ‘em!”